The invention concerns safety seats for land vehicles, aircraft or vessels (collectively “vehicles”) by means of which persons that are to be transported on the seats are supported securely, especially if the vehicle is affected by accelerations. Safety seats of the aforementioned kind, particularly in their use in aviation, are described e.g. in the WO 98/47762 and in the further publications explained therein.
Safety seats of the aforementioned kind usually comprise a rigid seating surface that is attached to the corpus of the vehicle and especially to the bottom of the vehicle via corresponding reinforcement means. An associated harness usually comprises two shoulder belts and two lap belts. One end of each belt is fixedly attached to the vehicle while the other ends converge in a central belt buckle, which is located in front of the person that is to be transported.
Particularly if used in an armored land vehicle, it is of importance to protect a person sitting on the seat from the consequences of acceleration that is caused e.g. by the explosion of a landmine underneath the bottom of the vehicle. The vehicle is thereby often not only entirely lifted off the ground, but the floor of the vehicle is bent considerably inwardly. Accordingly, safety seats that are fixedly attached to the corpus of the vehicle show safety risks. They not only transfer shocks and vibrations caused by driving onto the vehicle occupant, they also do not provide enough protection against the floor bending inwardly.
As an alternative it has already been suggested to locate safety seats of the aforementioned kind suspended from the roof of the concerning vehicle. This has the disadvantage that such seats are usually very heavy and occupy a lot of space. At the same time, a substantial distance to the floor of the vehicle has to be maintained, which further increases the space necessary to install the seat.
Finally, all configurations of seats bring about the problem that these safety seats are fixed components of the vehicle which considerably reduce the mobility of the person sitting in a vehicle and particularly of the person performing certain tasks in the military field. Furthermore for the safety seat is not adjustable to the body proportions of the occupant.
A safety seatcomprising a fabric covering with an entry that encloses the occupant's body up to over the height of the head in the back and on the sides is described in detail in DE 43 03 719 A1. On the top and on the bottom, the safety seat can be suspended between the floor and the roof area of the vehicle by means of supporting belts that are attached to the covering.
Further, a seat equipped with safety belts, installed in a vehicle protected against landmines, is shown in DE 101 30 631 A1. In order to detach the seat from the floor of the vehicle, the seat is suspended via at least one supporting arm in the upper area of the side wall of the vehicle.
Likewise, the object of U.S. Pat. No. 5,642,916 is a seat installed in a vehicle. The basic configuration of the seat allows movement of the seating surface, whereby the seating surface is secured in the vehicle via supporting belts that are supported on belt retractors.
The seat described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,909,499 is provided with a belt fixture for a safe support of the vehicle occupant's head in the case of corresponding vehicle accelerations.
The DE 199 57 814 A1 finally describes a belt retractor that is propelled by an electric motor. It comprises a blocking mechanism that can be controlled by an operator and an electronic control unit that makes it possible to control different functions of the belt retractor.
It is an object of the invention to provide a safety seat that is universally applicable, that can be positioned in the vehicle in a space-saving manner, and that at the same time ensures maximum freedom of movement for the tasks that the occupant has to perform in the vehicle.